Robinia, Locust 'Decaisneana'

Acquired from Forestfarm in 2010 as a small whip. Took off right out of the gate, shot up to it's current 40+ ft size. Planted near pat...Read Moreio for shade relief. Very airy, more elegant habit than native black/honey locusts. Flowers mid-May here in Chicagoland. Fragrant, light pink blossoms. It does have small thorns occasionally, similar to rose in shape. Folliage is clean, non-buggy, and holds up well to drought.

How interesting that the previous comment is from so close by! I only managed to definitively identify the beautiful tree in my friend's ...Read Moregarden when it flowered. We will try and propagate more. It is probably close to fully grown now but is excellent near the house - doesn't block the view of the hills behind it, is light and airy with an elegant structure, casts lovely dappled shade, hasn't suckered at all and although the branches are brittle this hasn't caused any problems so far. Another striking feature not often mentioned is its stripey grey-green and white bark.

9b coastal Otago New Zealand

This is the Pink Wisteria Tree, it's foliage very similar to the familiar robinia pseudoacaci...Read Morea 'Frisia' except that it is medium green instead of golden. I think the tree is a little more gracile in form than the latter, being a bit more 'lacy' in it's layered branches and general visual delicacy.
This is a central tree in the 'arboretum' section of our half acre coastal garden and while it had a little shelter from the high prevailing winds, it's planted in rubbishy clay soil and gets zero attention, as well as having to contend with a good deal of competition from other trees. It also began life as a skanky little abused twig from the 'bargain' section of the nursery. In five years it had recovered from it's poor start and blossomed into a lovely and much admired tree, rewarding us every year with a long display of shell-pink wisteria type flowers that fill the garden with a delicate perfume in spring.
It has suckered only twice and in small numbers.
Maples and other tender underplanting species love the dappled shade this tree casts, which is perfectly adequate to permit lawn growth beneath it.
To my mind it is an uncommonly beautiful and very useful tree in any collection, having many excellent features and no drawbacks.
Trim or prune hard to your preferred form.
Highly recommended.